Sidelines
by Jelly Bean Omelette
Summary: Andromeda Jones has spent her whole life sitting on the sidelines, watching her brother act hero. Her dad had said that she could go to camp after the war, after the prophecy. To keep her 'safe', as he said. But now the war has ended, or at least, the first one has.
1. In Which We Meet Me

'Andy! Why won't you just go find him and tell him who you are?' whined my best friend, Jenna Mulberry, a twenty-one year old daughter of Iris, seven years older than I was, although the fact that she was shorter than me and still squealed 'Oooh look at da little puppyyy!' when ever she saw a dog made her seem a lot younger than she actually was.

'I've told you a million times, Poseidon told me that I'm supposed to stay away from camp half-blood until after the war ends.' I whispered back while carefully wiping the slime of my weapon.

We were sitting in the large living room of the penthouse suite in the plaza hotel. Jenna's pistol lay on the coffee table surrounded by numerous empty clips. Having run out of celestial bronze bullets, she resorted to using her small serrated dagger. It looked quite measly next to my two hunting knives: they were a present from severel years ago. One was slightly longer than my forearm and its curved blade gave off a low bronze glow. I used it more for hand to hand combat in contrast to my other smaller knife. This one was made of titanium silver, I preferred it for throwing because it was a lot more slender, and its straight blade was more accurate. Plus it was enchanted to magically reappear in its sheath as soon as it hit its target.

'Sooo…You're not at camp half-blood now, are you? And don't _have_ to tell him who you are right away, just at least talk to him?'

I looked, up from my work, at Jenna. Her dirty blonde hair was matted with blood and monster slime and her pale porcelain skin was covered in a thick layer of grime.

Usually you would see Jenna wearing faded, paint-covered skinny jeans and some sort of 'Save the …' t-shirt. But today she was wearing loose jeans that were easy to move in and a dark tank-top. Over this was a full set of Greek body armour that hugged her curves without restricting body movement.

I, having had to leave my house at only a moments notice, was not as well prepared. I had only my thigh sheath, with a pocket for each knife and a pale green dress that I was wearing due only to my lack of willpower and my mother's incessant begging (she claimed that I should 'dress more like a proper lady'). It was now ripped in several places around the hem and had gathered dirt from where I had been sitting in trees; mother wasn't going to like that.

'I really don't think that now is right to meet my brother for the first time.' I looked away from her eyes and back at my, still, grime-covered blade. Jenna had huge anime eyes that were impossible to say no to…combine that with her puppy-dog, pouty mouth and she probably could've made me jump off a cliff.

She rolled her eyes, 'I am much more mature than you and believe me, he deserves to know!'

'Right…you…_mature_.' I air quoted with my fingers sarcastically.

She huffed and turned away before an evil grin spread across her face, I followed her line of sight before breathing out a low, 'Oh no.'

She looked back at me with that smug gleam in her eyes, and when she looked like that you just knew that Jenna was going to get her way. 'Oh yes,' she said back to me.

My brother had just stepped out of the elevator. I had never seen him before, yet I could've recognised him anywhere from our striking resemblance to one another.

We had the same scruffy jet black hair, but he had a grey streak I didn't have and on him it looked sexy as all Hades, on me it looked as though I had been dragged through a bush backwards. He had my brilliant green eyes that changed colour as he walked as though someone had actually poured the sea into his irises. Although, he had dad's tanned surfer skin and wide lips, whereas I had my mothers pale complexion and small heart-shaped lips.

He was Percy Jackson and he was my brother.

Percy stepped out of the elevator and strode across the lounge in three long steps, not even giving me a single glance. His lips were pressed into a tight line and his eyebrows were all scrunched together like mine got when I was worried.

A boy with the distinct features of an Apollo kid: tall and lean with sandy hair, followed him out, onto the terrace that overlooked the city. A small crowed of kids parted to let them through, revealing a pale blonde who was covered in blankets and wore a grimace of pain.

My brother's eyes widened with shock and horror as the boy with him unwrapped the girls wound – it was deep, very deep and a sickening shade of green.

The girl murmured something, a weak smile playing on the edges of her lips and my brother simply looked as if he wanted to pass out. The other boy said something and in response Percy turned around and grabbed a flask of what I assumed to be nectar. He fumbled as his stiff fingers tried to unscrew the lid before handing it to the boy.

The girl gripped Percy's fingers tightly, turning them purple, while her wounds were cleaned and rebound.

He and the girl stared at each other silently while the others on the terrace spoke amongst themselves. After this exchange they filed out slowly until only my brother, the girl and a very pretty, petite girl, who I hadn't noticed before, were left.

Without the low hum of the crowd, their words carried through the open doors.

'This is all my fault.' The second girl's lip trembled; her eyes were red and blotchy like she had been crying a lot.

The first girl started to say something I couldn't hear because of Jenna muttering in my ear. 'That's Silena Beauregard; daughter of Aphrodite. She joined camp a few years before I left.'

I listened more intently, trying to make out what the so-called Silena was saying. '…been any good at camp, not like you or Percy. If I were a better fighter…'

'You're a great camper,' Percy moved to touch Silena's arm, 'You're the best Pegasus rider we have. And you get along with people. Believe me, anyone…'

I stopped listening. Silly, greedy Silena, why did she deserve my brother's comforting words, oh yeah, she didn't. In that moment I hated Percy. I hated him for finding what I couldn't at that camp that I couldn't go to because of him. I hated that blonde for having his love. I wished it could've been me sitting in that chair, squeezing my brother's fingers while he looked down at me with worry.

I hated Percy for finding a family without me: his real family. But had I not done the same thing? Had I not found a sibling in Jenna? Even so, I want my own brother; I had always wanted my own brother.

And now here he was; right in front of me. I wanted to run up and hug him and tell him who I was and we would become inseparable.

But I didn't, because he didn't need me. As much as I needed him, I couldn't do it because I couldn't stand the though of being rejected. I think the only thing that had kept me from running away for all those years was the thought of one day, finally going to camp half-blood, to find my family there, to finally be happy, to finally belong. And I think it would crush me to have that taken away.


	2. In Which We Meet Our Hero

Chapter 2

The sky still glowed dimly of purple and red. Jenna and I were sat on two adjacent branches about ten feet off the ground, just inside the tree line to the right of the reservoir.

I had pointedly ignored Percy's arrival only ten minuets ago. Jenna could tell that I was still upset from last night, so wasn't pushing the matter.

'Positions!' the blonde girl yelled, she and Percy stood stoically at the edge of the lake. A couple other scrambled up to get into their own positions before the army charged out of the dying sun.

I had to admit that Percy's plan was brilliant; by forcing the army into two groups it would make them easier to pick off individually.

The roar of the oncoming army was deafening. They moved like one lone beast. Occasionally a single head would emerge, before sinking back into the multi-limbed monster. They marched at a steady speed before the automatic defences kicked in, the middle part of the trail erupted in Greek fire, several monsters died on the spot, and others fell, flailing, while covered in flickering flames, into the lake. However, more marched behind to replace them.

A large group of _dracaenae_ lined up with where I was sitting. I slowly drew my silver knife out of my thigh sheath and took aim, looking to hit a large one, near the front. With a simple flick of my wrist it spun forward and landed right between the eyes, it was back by my side before the snake woman had time to dissolve.

Jenna nudged me on the shoulder and gave me a solemn nod, before dropping onto the ground and plunging into the ongoing battle.

I flung my knife again and again, never missing. That was my gift; I wasn't particularly strong or smart or any good at sword fighting or archery, but I was accurate.

I had just taken down a large giant with my third shot when I saw something that turned my blood ice cold. Jenna was on the floor, pinned down by a snarling hell hound the size of a rhino, struggling to reach her knife that was just out of grasp. Fear marred her tiny features and under the huge dog she looked smaller than ever.

By breathing grew shallow, this was one time I couldn't miss, and I didn't perform well under pressure.

I took aim and threw my knife, but at the last second something caught my gaze, causing me to turn. Someone was running across the water towards the only Titan, it was my brother. He was sprinting over it, barely touching the water, as if he were simply flying. I snapped my head back to my knife, cursing myself for getting distracted. It travelled through the air painfully slowly and I willed it with all my might to bend in the air and run its course true. It gave a feeble curve, but wasn't enough to hit the hellhound squarely in the chest, like I had intended. Instead it tore at the shoulder; the momentum was enough to rip the thing of my best friend and into the path of another's sword. Jenna hopped up and brushed her self off in that very Jenna way, gave a quick nod of thanks in my direction before darting off, back into the thick of battle.

I gave a huge sigh of relief and reached back for my knife, before realising that it wasn't in my sheath, it had skidded a good 20 feet from where Jenna had been, and a good 100 feet from me. I cursed myself again; my knife hadn't hit properly, the enchantment placed upon it stated that it would return to me having hit its target. If I missed I had to go get it.

And going to get it meant wading through at least 80 feet of raging battle. And I didn't do well in battles; hand to hand combat wasn't my style. I preferred to stand from a good distance away and take down as many as I could with my knife. And I could take out more than most could like that.

I felt like smacking myself in the head, but instead clambered delicately down from my tree. The leaf-covered ground crunched under my converse. Leaning against a tree trunk that faced away from the main fight I pulled out my second knife. Quickly running my thumb over the blade proved my theory to be right, it was slightly blunt, I had been neglecting it. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself before plunging into battle.

It's hard to explain a real battle; it's just completely and utter chaos. You can't really tell who's on your side or not and it's just a huge sea of yelling, screaming and blades clashing.

My heightened senses tried to take in everything around me as I ran. I had to duck to avoid a leaping hell hound.

_80 ft to go_

A giant's foot sent me sprawling on the floor; I had only rolled over just in time to see a javelin pierce the ground right where I had been. I didn't stop to find out whose javelin it was, only kept on running towards my knife that still lay untouched on the ground.

_60 ft to go_

An enemy demigod tried to strike me with their sword; I tried to block it with my blade. Theirs scraped off creating a horrible screech like a hundred knives on metal. I stumbled backwards but quickly regained my footing and continued on running.

_40 ft to go_

The wind whipped my hair across my face and I could feel blood dripping from a wound on my ankle that I didn't even know how I had got. I had only been in the battle for two minuets and had already sustained more injuries than I had in the past hour.

_20 ft to go_

I had only twenty feet to go. I was so close that I could see the intricate patterns that twisted up the handle; I could taste how close I was. Yet, just as I stepped out of the larger bulk of fighting a tall figure stepped in front of me.

A helmet that was slightly too large covered a mess of dark hair and his left eye was covered by a patch. A long hunting knife, similar to mine, except it was a good half a foot longer, was raised in his right hand.

I did the only thing that came naturally and raised mine above my head, and not a moment too soon. His blade clashed with mine with so much force that I tripped backwards several steps. He drew away, only to swipe again at my right, I blocked again. We continued this deadly tango. I had to admit he was good, very good in fact. I could only block his shots and he was slowly forcing my backwards into the cloud of war. I tried to dodge around him but he move to a side to stop me. I knew it was only a matter of time until he beat me.

Out of the corner of my eye I was still watching Percy's fight with the Titan. It was amazing, Percy looked like a god himself, swirling around in his own storm, he slowly pushed his opponent backwards. The Titan was soon back on the shore and the satyr's had picked up a tune that I couldn't hear. My opponent, along with several others, including me, had stopped to watch in amazement as bark slowly grew up the Titan's limbs, gradually encasing him in a fully grown maple tree. The Titan gave a roar of rage before disappearing completely. I stared dumbfounded at the place where his head had disappeared into, not noticing the knife butt that came crashing down onto my skull.

I fell to the ground, a pool of blood quickly gathering around me. A foot pressed against my chest and the cool tip of the dagger pressed against my throat. A small whimper of pain escaped my lips as the silent figure looming over me became clearer. His eyes swam with uncertainty; it looked as though he was having an internal argument with himself. But then they settled; resolved. He lifted the blade above his head in order to get some momentum. I refused to close my eyes. If I was to die, I was going to die with my dignity intact, not snivelling and begging for mercy.

But just as the blade was about to strike, some great force ripped him off of me and I found a different figure standing above me.

He reached down and gripped my hands in his, pulling me up from the ground. I staggered, and with his help managed to steady myself before looking up at my saviour. My jaw dropped to the floor and my eyes rounded to the size of dinner plates.

It was Percy, he stood there his eyes filled with worry, but quizzical like 'Do I know you?' I looked him up and down, still not believing that he was right in front of me.

He was wearing simple bronze armour over an orange t-shirt, jeans and white sneakers that were soaked in blood.

_Oh._

They were soaked in blood, my blood. And that's when I slumped, unconscious, into my brother's arms. A dream come true.

**Hi! Please…If my story is rubbish, tell me. Flames are not only accepted, but appreciated.**


	3. In Which I Do 'A Jesus'

Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hello and thank you for reading this! I'm sorry about the inconsistent updates, the first chapters seemed to write themselves but I had serious writer's block with this one. I rewrote it so many times! I have about three other versions of this chapter…**

** Thank you to my amazing beta Anna145! And thank you to my other anonymous reviewer, A.**

** And to my friend who is a skilled whisker (you know who you are) if you are on this page please don't (read it).**

3rd POV

Percy lifted the girl up, cradling her in his arms and started to move away from the main bulk of fighting. There was a certain quality about her that stirred a tender protectiveness within his heart.

Was it the way her eyelids fluttered in her sleep? Or the way her short scruffy hair refused to stay out of her face? Or the way she, despite being quite tall, was unfeasibly small?

Percy couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was, it was strong enough to motivate him to briefly abandon his comrades long enough to carry her to safety.

Annabeth stared in confusion as Percy ran back into the small woodland area carrying a girl of about fourteen. 'Percy, who is that?' Asked Annabeth.

Percy looked down at the girl's pale features and felt that same tenderness rise up again. 'I don't know, but she's got a real nasty head woun-'

'REEEEEET!' A huge pink creature soared over the reservoir, cutting Percy off.

'A sow!' Annabeth cried, 'Take Cover!'

Several demigods ducked to avoid the swooping hooves.

'Percy, that thing is the Clazmonian Sow, it terrorized Greek towns back in the day. It'll destroy half our army if it isn't stopped.'

'But I can't just leave her unconscious on the floor, she'll get trampled!' Percy protested.

Grover took a step forward, arms outstretched. 'I'll take her, Percy; I'll just get the dryads to pass her through the trees to safety.'

'No,' Percy took a stepped backwards and cradled the girl tighter in his arms. The protective feeling surged up again; he didn't trust anyone else to look after her.

'Percy!' snapped Annabeth, getting more annoyed by the second. 'We do not have time to argue about this!'

'But-'

'She's mine…' Jenna, having seen Andy from afar had quickly sprinted over. She was panting slightly.

'Who are you?' Percy wrinkled his eyebrows.

'Jenna Mulberry; daughter of Iris, this is my little sister; Andy.' She lied haughtily, almost daring someone to challenge her.

'But-' Percy struggled to find a reason not to give the girl to her. 'How are you going to get her out of here?'

Jenna just smiled that Jenna smile and screwed her eyes up really tight like she was trying to work out a hard math problem. Using the power to summon a Pegasus from almost anywhere that most children of Iris had, she called the nearest one to her.

A dapple grey one grew out of the clouds and landed smoothly along side her and Percy. The Pegasus looked at Jenna with expectant eyes.

'Are you going to help her on or what?' Jenna glared at Percy like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She eyed Andy's head wound, biting her lip. It had stopped bleeding so freely, but was a worrying size.

Percy, after receiving a stern look from Annabeth, propped Andy up against the neck of the horse. He wasn't used to being commanded to do something with such force. Jenna swung onto the back, placing an arm either side of Andy, preventing her from falling off.

'Take care of her.' Percy muttered too low for anyone but the unknown Pegasus to hear. He then ran off in the opposite direction, towards the sow. Percy allowed himself only one glance back at the Pegasus, which had already shrunk considerably into the distance before pushing the girl out of his mind.

_Five Months Later_

It says a lot about my life that I learnt Latin at the posh prep school I had gone to since the age of eight, and the only sentence I knew was 'eheu! mater biberat multa vinum!' Which means 'Oh no! Mother has drunk much wine!' And I'm not even sure that's right.

It's not that I'm naturally bad at Latin or anything. Actually, being a demigod meant that I had a natural aptitude for the Classics and Classical Civilization. But my teacher had a hard-to-pronounce name, always smelt like sweat and stale lemonade and droned on in the same monotonous tone that put my ADHD brain to sleep.

He was an improvement on my first Latin teacher though. She had one metal and one furry leg, and in the end grew fangs and tried to eat me.

I was only nine years old then. At that age you should attract as many monsters as I did because most demigods have the truth hidden from them until they are deemed 'ready'. Ready to realise that the world isn't a peachy bowl of sunshine, it's dangerous and if you don't take care of yourself, you will die.

Apparently my mother didn't care for me enough to lie to protect me.

No, she was too concerned with her marriage to pay any attention to me. And when her marriage fell apart, like all high profile marriages do, she used her substantial divorce settlement to buy a big house, with a big garden, and of course a big wine cellar.

While she was on one of her drunken rampages I used to head over to Jenna's. If you're a demigod living in New York you'll know that the best places to find other demigods are: Olympus … Olympus had amazing clubs but you had to give the key keeper a large tip if you wanted up without an appointment. Central Park … Parks meant satyrs and nature spirits, and they meant demigods. Camp half-blood … it's in the name isn't it? And Jenna's place.

Jenna knew everyone. She had gone to camp with that son of Hephaestus on fifth that could make you anything as long as you did him the right favour. She was good friends with the daughter of Apollo on thirty forth that could get you any specialist, black market, arrows as long as you had enough drachmas. She used to date the son of Ares on twenty second that could get you 6 tons of Titanium Silver on as little as three hours notice. She was dating that son of Dionysus who owned the warehouse on ninth and who held the best parties. And she knew…well you get the idea, she knew everyone. So it was a rare occasion when Jenna's apartment was empty.

'It's almost ten o'clock…won't your mum be worried by now?' Jenna stood in the little kitchen, using a wooden spoon to stir a bowl of cake mix. Her vivid pink 'Kiss the Chef' apron was covered in flour.

'Nah, knowing her she's probably passed out drunk by now.' I was sprawled across Jenna's sofa, half listening to some film playing on the TV.

Jenna sat down next to me; her hands were covered by red oven mitts. 'Let me rephrase this; Jace is coming over for a romantic dinner soon-'

I raised my eyebrow.

'-Okay, for a romantic desert, and we would prefer not to have a fourteen year old girl third-wheeling on us.'

I groaned; it was dark and raining heavily out and I had no money on me for cab fare. 'Can't I crash here for the night?' I asked ambitiously, I knew it was probably futile. Jenna would let me crash at hers any day of the week, except for Friday. Friday was date night, and date night usually ended with Jace 'sleeping over'. And if Jace 'slept over' I wasn't allowed to.

'Nope,' she popped the p, 'Now scram.'

I sighed, got up from the couch and walked toward the door. I pulled on my jacket before yelling, 'See you tomorrow!' back into the kitchen and then walked out the apartment, locking the door behind me.

The elevator wasn't working in Jenna's building, it never was. So after walking down five flights of stairs I trudged out into the rain.

I shivered against the wind. My powers stopped me from getting wet, but they did nothing against the cold and I was only wearing a thin olive green tee under my black jacket.

The streets were dark, illuminated only by the orange glow of street lights, but they were by no means quiet. At ten o'clock on a Friday night the streets were alive with brightly dressed mortals out for the night. They were like large exotic birds; moving about in flocks and squawking at the rain.

It was thirty minutes from Jenna's to mine if you went around Central Park, if you cut through it, it would take you half that.

The park was completely empty and the jogging trail had just come within my sight, and to my dismay I found that it was closed because of a huge hole right in the middle of it that was obviously there to do work on the pipes. I sighed, and turned to walk along the shore of the lake, heading for the opposite trail. I could see my breath in the air, and the only sound was my footsteps crunching against the frosted grass.

I stopped when I reached my tree; I had christened it my tree a couple of months ago, the first visit I had made after the battle. A crow's nest had been nestled on my branch. In it was my knife; an object much too heavy for a crow to carry, and a small trident key ring. After a muttered 'Thanks Dad,' I had jogged home, a hidden smile upon my face.

I stood in front of my tree facing out towards the reservoir. The small voice in the back of my head spoke up, like every time it did when I came here. 'Do it now, tonight's a good a night as any'. Something was different tonight; usually the voice was just a small, nagging idea. But tonight it was thicker, more substantial. The wind pushed through me and rippled out across the water, almost as if it was urging me on. I moved, walking right up to the edge.

A wobbly image of my own, raised foot was reflected in the water. I thought 'Please let this work,' before gently lowering my foot.

Disappointingly, it sunk down, breaking the cool black sheen. I huffed and turned away, telling myself that it didn't matter anyway, I didn't care that Percy could do it and I couldn't, it didn't matter.

The voice in my head spoke mockingly. 'I knew you couldn't do it.'

I gritted my teeth and turned back. Stupid Conscience. This time, I imagined the water thickening, to form a thin layer of solid material that I could stand on. I took a deep breath, calming myself and stepped down.

This time my foot met resistance as I pressed down, I gave a laugh of exhilaration, it rang out across the silent sky. I took a step, and another step, and another, and another, and soon I was running, flying across the surface. I felt brilliant; it was almost as good as swimming.

I could barely notice the cold air that bit at my skin as I stopped and looked down. It was an odd feeling standing on water. I could see the water flowing freely beneath me and I could see the rain drops piercing the surface easily. But what I was standing on seemed like a sort of jelly substance. I jumped; testing the consistency, it was bouncy like a trampoline. I felt a grin spread across my face. I hadn't been on a trampoline since my mortal friend Maisie's fifth birthday party. I had been told off for encouraging 'dangerous stunts' amongst the other kids.

I jumped, getting higher and higher each time. I could see ripples being sent all the way to the edge. Launching myself into a back flip I landed before my body had time to spin its self fully over, falling flat on my face. Under normal circumstances, the way my leg was bent underneath my body would have caused it to snap cleanly in two. But the water softened to let my leg through, stopping it from being crushed.

I got up, without even a bruise to show for my fall, and checked my watch. It was almost midnight; I had been there for almost two hours.

With a sigh I slowly jogged to the edge, finding that as soon as I stepped off the water a wave of exhaustion came over me. I supposed that I had been running for non-stop for two hours, and without the water to draw strength from my eyes were beginning to droop.

I took me twenty minutes to walk back to the house in my exhausted state and by that time I was ready to pass out. I unlocked the big French doors and walked into the hallway. It was long and panelled with mahogany wood. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, throwing fragments of light across the walls and floor. I could hear the gentle _whoosh _of the sink coming from the kitchen. Zeus knew how long it had been on.

I sighed and shuffled down the corridor, opening the door to the kitchen. Someone else was standing at the sink, doing the dishes that I had planned to wash the next day. It was my dad; Poseidon.

**Please Review! Flames, whatever, I don't care. **


	4. In Which I Flash Back

Chapter 4

**Hi again…been writing like mad to get this finished. More thanks to my amazing beta; _Anna145_! You should all go and read her stories…they are original and brilliant. **

** A shout out to _God1801_, the first person to add my story to their favourites! Thank you for reviewing and thanks for the compliments; I hate all the other Mary-Sues that surround this idea. And I think that Percy, being a big, important Prophecy child would be more gifted than most so I try to make Andy's powers realistic. And I'm sorry she will be going to camp half-blood in the next few chapters but will not meet Percy for a while because, as we know, he's unconscious somewhere, waiting to be sent to the Roman camp.**

** Thanks also to _FoREVer_ (liking the Avenged Sevenfold there!) my other reviewer. And also thanks go to _OfCourseImHuman_ and _SugarIsHEALTHY_ for adding me to favourites.**

**Did you know that only 6% of my readers review? *gasp* It's shocking! Please R&R! Hope you enjoy the chapter! … also see how I made a conscious effort to sound American…dollars and sidewalk! IMPRESSIVE MUCH?**

'Dad?' I gave an exclamation of surprise. It had been over six years since his last proper visit. This wasn't surprising, since they were always few and far between. I had only seen him three times before.

The first time was when I was five. Mother and David, her husband, were in Prague for their honeymoon. They had left me with my nanny, Tara. I had liked Tara, she was nicer than most.

_The two-chime bell rang across the house. Ding-Dong. My feet brushed the tiles as I swung my legs. I was sat at the kitchen table, scrawling over a colouring book. I hopped down from my stool and ran to the front door. I had to stand on tip-toe in order to reach the latch._

_ In the doorway stood a tall, tanned man with black messy hair. His dark green eyes seemed familiar and his wide lips were turned up at the edges. He gave off the soft scent of the sea. I had only been to the beach once before but I still remembered that salty smell._

_ 'Andromeda, what've I told you about opening the door? You're supposed to wait for me!' Tara scolded as she came up behind me. Her hair was as bright as carrots and her eyes were the colour of mossy trees. She gave a jolt when she looked at the man. Something about him had rendered her temporarily speechless. 'Ca-Can I help you?'_

_ The man simply smiled and said, 'I was wondering if I might have a word with Andromeda?'_

_ Tara seemed to regain some composure. 'And who are you, can I ask?'_

_ His eyes twinkled with amusement. 'I am Andromeda's father.'_

Dad had talked to me for almost four hours. He told me about Olympus and the different gods; the Olympians and the minor gods. He told me about Prophecies, monsters, nymphs, naiads, the underworld, demigods, IMs, drachmas, he had told me everything. I absorbed all this information with wide, eager eyes. He then gave me my two knives and left abruptly. Tara told mother when she got back three days later. After a lot of yelling, mother fired Tara, and I never saw her again. I got a new nanny, and life moved on.

The next time he visited I was seven. I had had enough from David and was about to run away.

'_Andromeda! Come back down here at once and apologise to your father!' Mother ordered._

_ 'He's not my father! And he is a bellend!' I screeched back down the stairs before slamming my bedroom door. I grabbed my nike rucksack from under the bed and started to shove things at random into it: some clothes, my toothbrush, my knives, a torch and the wad of cash I had stolen off David a while ago._

_ My bedroom door swung open. Behind it stood Suzanne Jones, my mother. Her mahogany hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her lip-stick red lips were pursed. 'I demand that you apologise to your father at once for using such vile language!' _

_ I swung the bag over my shoulder and stomped over to the door, scowling up at her. 'I am not going to apologise. Now move!'_

_ 'Andromeda, stop this silliness at once!'_

_ I shoved her out of my way and marched down the hallway. I could hear her heels clipping behind me. _

_ 'Put that bag down at once and apologise for your rudeness.' Her voice was shrill and panicked. _

_ I gritted my teeth and leaped down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. I was almost at the front door when something grabbed my arm. I swung round wildly like the cornered animal I was. His hand was clasped around my wrist; I could feel his nails digging in to my skin. I might've cried if I was the sort of girl who cried._

_ 'Go back upstairs and apologise to your mother this instant.' David snarled, _

_ I struggled to rip my hand away but his grip was like iron. 'I am leaving. NOW LET ME GO!' I thrust my knee upwards into his privates and he fell to the ground with a grunt._

_ He was still groaning as I leaped over him and shot off down the hall way. I got to the door, reaching to unlatch it. I stopped in the empty door frame. The autumn wind blew cool air into the house._

_Surprisingly, David was back on his feet and not even making a move to stop me. 'Fine then, leave. I don't care and nor does she.' He nodded towards the top of the stairs where my mother stood, clearly torn between yelling to stop me and yelling to scold me for letting leaves into the house. 'You've brought nothing but trouble to this household.' He narrowed his cold, unfeeling eyes._

_I felt tears sting the back of my eyes but I forced them back before turning around, only to find a figure blocking my way. 'Dad?'_

Dad had spoken to me in the kitchen while mother and David argued outside: David wanted me gone, mother was reluctant. Dad had managed to convince me out of running away by telling me about camp half-blood. When I had asked why I couldn't go there immediately he had simply replied. _'You can't go there yet. There is a prophecy that might concern another child of mine…' My eyes widened at this. '…and if you go now you could be in grave danger because of this prophecy.'_

The key word was _yet. Yet _painted a wonderful picture of the near-future where everything would be _perfect_. So I stayed and waited for that picture to become a reality.

The third and last time I had seen him, I didn't count as a real visit because he hadn't even spoken to me, and I had only even seen him for a spilt second. It was on the twentieth of October; my eleventh birthday. And I'd officially had enough. Mother was coming out of her messy divorce and not taking it well - she was spending most days in her room, curtains closed, with some sort of liquor bottle. When I ran away that time I had actually made it out the house and all the way to a small coffee place on 57th.

_I shivered. It was an especially cold October and the open window next to me was letting in a strong gale. I stood and forced it shut before sinking back into my seat. I had just run away. This thought crowded my mind; it was a single defining thought that changed everything. _

_No longer did I have to worry about what new lie to tell my English teacher about why I hadn't handed my homework in. Now my worries were more basic: food, water, a place to stay. It was almost dark and I had only fifty bucks in my bag and nowhere to stay._

_The waitress sauntered over to my table and droned in a flat tone, 'Welcome to the Malabar Café. Our specials include the Peach Frosted Smoothie and the Hot Ginger Syrup. What can I get you?' It was clear that she couldn't care less about the specials._

'_Umm, I'll just have a hot chocolate please.' The waitress eyed my nike bag that lay next to me before shrugging and walking off towards the bar._

_I looked around the café. It was mainly orange and brown and had small wooden tables spread evenly around it. There was only one other person in there; a tall man wearing a dark trench coat and a low, black hat who sat in the plush chairs on the other side - next the door. _

_He didn't seem to be doing anything, I couldn't see his face so I couldn't be sure, but he was just sitting there, looking down at his lap. He wasn't eating or reading the menu, just sitting there. The waitress was taking no notice of him, every time she faced in his direction her eyes would just skip over his chair, almost as if she couldn't see him._

_I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. His presence made me nervous; I didn't think that he was a monster but then again – who was to say that he wasn't?_

_The waitress returned with my hot chocolate. 'Two ninety five. Please.' She was fiddling with her phone. I thoroughly doubted that she would've noticed if I had just walked right past her and left._

_I rummaged in my pocket, counted out three dollars and placed them in her hand. She looked up at me scornfully like 'Where's-my-tip-you-cheapskate?' She then placed my hot chocolate roughly on the table so that some slopped over the sides before stalking off._

_I looked down at it distastefully. It wasn't hot chocolate, rather lukewarm milk with mushy lumps of coco powder floating on top._

_I had been watching the man out of the corner of my eye that whole time. Up until that point he hadn't moved. But as I pushed my drink away he looked up, grinning sinisterly. He had a hawkish face and different coloured eyes: one blue and one brown. But that wasn't the most startling thing about him; his teeth were gleaming white and filed to an unnatural point. _

_My heart started like a race horse out of the stands and I quickly looked in the other direction, hoping that he hadn't realise that I had seen; this would've bought me a couple of seconds at least. _

_The first thing that came to mind was escape: I could take the door, but that meant walking past him or I could squeeze out of the window. He got up slowly and started to walk calmly towards me. Right it was window time. I stood up and wrenched the window open. I could easily fit through it height-wise, but even if I went through side ways it would be a tight fit._

_I shoved my bag through first; it hit the sidewalk with a thump. The man was still advancing quite casually, taking his time. I gripped the frame and pulled myself up, trying to edge through sideways. The man started to speed up. I was almost through, before my head got stuck._

_It would have been funny if it wasn't so terrifying. The man had now shed his hat and coat, just dropping them on the floor and revealing a thinning head of grey hair and a pin-striped suit, he was now almost at the window, smiling maliciously._

_Panic gripped my heart and I struggled harder against the frame; my head wouldn't budge. I reached my hand over my head, got a firm grip, counted to three. And then brutally shoved my head through the tight frame, I could feel the skin scraping off my scalp, leaving chunks of hair behind_

_I scooped up my bag and started to run down the street. I turned back to see if he was following me. He was still standing behind the open window, loud growls ripping through his body. He grew larger, his suit ripping off him, being replaced by the orange hair of a lion. His red, spiked tail swiped dangerously behind him. Instead of trying to creep through the window like I had to, he just charged through the wall, sending rubble flying everywhere. I could see the waitress cowering behind a chair by the door._

_My sneakers pounded against the tarmac, I could hear the galloping paws behind me, claws scraping on the concrete._

_Other pedestrians protested as I shoved them out of my way. I had no idea where I was headed, but there was something with in me that screamed 'Left! Go left!' I veered around the corner._

_I could see the thing chasing me in the shop windows. It still had the head of a man but the mutated body of a lion. It was a manticore, I remembered that much from my Classical Civilization lessons at school. There was something about them I was forgetting; an ability or weapon. It was there, in my brain, just slightly out of reach. What was it? _

_I turned left again, like the nudging voice in my head told me to, into an alley way. It was a dead end. I spun around, but the manticore had already prowled in. It was so huge that he took up the entire width of the alley._

_I slowly backed away from the beast, until my back hit a wall. I was completely trapped._

'_Wh-What do you want?' I forced the words out of my mouth._

'_You are coming with me, Andromeda Jones.' The thing had a heavy French accent and pronounced its Js like in Jacque. _

_I narrowed my eyes. Out of all the things that made me mad, use of my full name was definitely in the top five. 'Fat chance of that happening.' I spat. _

_It snarled. 'You should feel honoured, my girl. You will have the opportunity to join a great army.'_

'_I'll tell you where you can stick your "great army"-'_

_It gave a great, bellowing roar, I could feel the vibrations in the ground. 'Insolent child! You shall feel the repercussions of your unruly mouth!' Its tail whipped forwards and a large black spike shot out, embedding itself in my shoulder._

_I gave a strangled gasp. The dagger-like object had sliced right through my skin and was now lodged in my body. I shakily brought my hand to my shoulder. It came back stained with blood. Crimson red soaked my shirt. I crumpled to the ground; violent spasms wracking throughout my body. My vision was blurring, there had to have been something else on that spike; poison._

'_The package is ready to deliver.' The figure loomed above me; it was speaking into something in its hand. I gave a sorrowful groan of pain. 'Soon, you will serve a greater purpose, daughter of Poseid-' The manticore stopped mid-sentence, eyes bulging. Its humanoid paws clutched at its throat. It choked, spluttering something wet onto me face: sea water._

_I snapped awake. I could still feel the hole in my shoulder; painfully so. But I was conscious._

_The manticore collapsed, sea water was pooling out of its mouth creating a puddle on the ground. It shuddered once and then was still, before dissolving into a haze of monster ash._

_I rolled over, hugging my mangled shoulder; my breathing was harsh and shallow. In the water I could see the reflection of myself – my face was splattered with blood. Another face materialized next to mine; tanned with black hair and brilliant sea green eyes made of crashing waves. It was contorted by the ripples but I could recognise it easily: Dad. _

_I spun over, expecting to see my father, but instead finding a girl who looked about fifteen, but her face was too sharp and defined to be that young. She had smooth, dirty blonde hair and golden brown eyes that were the colour of syrup on burnt pancakes. 'Hi. What's your name?' She said in a casual voice as if we were meeting in a supermarket. Not with me lying in a pool of blood and sea water._

I didn't know it at that time but that girl was my to-be-best-friend, Jenna. She took me to her Mum's house, fixed me up and managed to convince me to tell her everything…about who I was, why I wasn't at camp; my whole life story.

We became friends after that, I'm not sure how it happened, we just started to do everything together. I helped her pick out an apartment, a University: I spent uncountable numbers of nights helping her cram for her end of semester exams. I was unimaginably grateful to Dad for bringing us together.

After not having seen him for about half my life I had to admit that I had expected something a bit more tactful than him staring at me with shock and saying the single most clichéd thing for a long-time-no-see-relative to say. 'Andromeda! You've grown so much since I last saw you!'


	5. In Which We Have a Family Renunion

I let out a mirthless laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. I hadn't seen my dad in seven-or-so years and here he was, a god, in my kitchen, doing the dishes, telling me how much I had grown. It wasn't your average chance meeting,was it?

"People tend to do that over time," I replied derisively, standing firm in the doorway.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly before regaining their composure, "It's good to see you again."

I pursed my lips, he only ever came with a reason; usually I was running away. But that was beside the point. "What do you want?"

Dad put the plate he was holding on top of a towering stack and sighed, "Is it completely unbelievable that I just wanted to check up on you?"

"For a god,yes. "Even the air was choking on our awkward silence. I nodded towards the sink, "I was going to do that."

He shrugged in a mundane manner and I momentarily forgot that he was over a thousand years old. He seemed rather like a father who was surprised to find that his daughter had suddenly learned how to talk back, "you weren't home."

"You didn't have to do it by hand."

Even at the risk of covering the floor with water, I sometimes can't be bothered to wash the dishes by hand. You would have thought that being the god of the sea would come with the luxury of never having to clean up after a peanut butter sandwich.

"I had time, speaking of which, you're home very late."

I snorted. "So you don't visit me for seven years, but suddenly you're worried about me staying out after dark?"

"Gods aren't supposed to interfere with their children's lives. Granted, I do break the rules for you, but I can't pop round for coffee every Sunday. Plus I've been busy with...er, _other _things."

"With Percy," I spat. I wasn't used to having to say it; usually, I referred to him as 'my brother'. Aloud, the name didn't roll well off my tongue; it sounded jagged torn around the edges. I moved towards the fridge, rubbing my eyes with exhaustion.

"I was wondering why you hadn't made your way to Camp Half-Blood yet. I was under the impression that you were impatient on this matter."

I froze. I could already feel the word-vomit welling up in the back of my throat. I tried to shove it back down, but as per usual it came spilling out. "I'm fine here; I have a life, friends, school." Like I gave what Mr. Harrison had to say about 'improper syntax'. "I don't need Camp Half-Blood."I would have been lying if I didn't say that had been the understatement of the century.

I turned and grabbed a Red Bull from the fridge—I had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

He gave me a long calculating look: his eyebrows were crinkled and when he spoke his voice was slower, more reserved. "A new Great Prophecy has been issued."

_Crack! _A low hiss followed the sound of me popping my can, highlighting the long uncomfortable silence. "A new prophecy?"

"It concerns seven new half-bloods."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked nonchalantly, bringing the can to my lips while, underneath my cool demeanour, my thoughts raced.

"_You _are the seventh half-blood." He said it quite bluntly and truthfully, like there was no doubt about the matter whatsoever. It was as if he were simply saying, _'the sea is green'._

I could feel my blood boiling. I was ready to hit something. Or, you know, turn around and yell like a perpetually melodramatic teenager. Before I knew it, the words were tumbling out of my mouth.

"So I'm not allowed to go to camp—not even _allowed _to talk to my own brother—but now that I'm needed you just expect me to run along and risk my life for people I don't even know? And you expect me to do all this without question because you're my father, and a _god_,—not _necessarily in that order_—who, while we're on the topic, I actually haven't seen in, ach, I don't know, seven, eight years? Either way, it's a bloody long time for you to march in here acting like everything's just dandy and expecting all these things from me. Well, I don't want to! I don't want to go to Camp Half-Blood!"

I left my mouth gaping open, wishing that I could cram those words of resentment hanging uncomfortably in the air back into my mouth. However, no such luck was granted. Dad didn't say anything. He simply stood there wearing an expression of pity. No, scratch that. It wasn't pity. It was much worse.

It was understanding.

He said, "I know you're angry, and I know it's my fault. But please, just listen, because I know what's best for you."

Perhaps it would have been better if he had said all those things that we all know adults, or immortal deities, thought. They assumed we were silly and misled – that we had no idea what we were doing – we had to be guided carefully through each obstacle, even beyond years of childhood.

Maybe it was worse with gods. They thought that because they were prevented from holding our hand the entire way that they were permitted to sit back and watch; only diving in to save the day once we've really stepped in it.

And it was probably my pride talking, but I would have rather rolled in shit than have my dad bail me out.

"If a prophecy is set there is little anyone can do to change it," he reasoned, "the Fates will get you to Camp Half-Blood one way or another. And I would rather it be on your terms." For the first time that evening he moved away from the sink, giving a casual flick of his hand—the plates were instantly gleaming. He stopped at the back door, turning back to look at me. "Please think about what I said."

My dad then dissolved into cloud of salty sea mist, leaving nothing behind but the nostalgia-inducing smell of the beach.

I sighed and set my empty can on the counter, swearing never again to drink Red Bull that late again. Even if I thought it was going to be a long night, because my instincts were never the most reliable source of information. Even if you dressed the truth in Bermuda shorts, a flower-patterned shirt and had it wash the dishes.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, RR does ect.**


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